Wacker oxidation methodology for the synthesis of the benzo-fused acetal core of marticin

Methodology for the synthesis of the benzo-fused acetal core of marticin is described in this paper. Condensation of readily available 1-(2-allyl-3,6-dimethoxyphenyl)ethanone with diethyl oxalate under Claisen condensation conditions furnished (Z)-ethyl 4-(2-allyl-3,6-dimethoxyphenyl)-2-hydroxy-4-oxobut-2-enoate. Treatment of this with LiAlH₄ resulted in the formation of the diol, 1-(2-allyl-3,6-dimethoxyphenyl)-3,4-dihydroxybutan-1-one. Conversion of primary alcohol of the diol into the TBDMS ether followed by further reaction with LiAlH₄ and exposure to Wacker oxidation conditions resulted in the formation of (3,6-dimethoxy-9-methyl-10,13-dioxatricyclo[7.3.1.0^2,7]trideca-2,4,6-trien-11-yl)methanol, the core of marticin.     

Qualitative aspects and validation of a screening method for pesticides in vegetables and fruits based on liquid chromatography coupled to full scan high resolution (Orbitrap) mass spectrometry

The analytical capabilities of liquid chromatography with single-stage high-resolution mass spectrometry have been investigated with emphasis on qualitative aspects related to selective detection during screening and to identification. The study involved 21 different vegetable and fruit commodities, a screening database of 556 pesticides for evaluation of false positives, and a test set of 130 pesticides spiked to the commodities at 0.01, 0.05, and 0.20 mg/kg for evaluation of false negatives. The final method involved a QuEChERS-based sample preparation (without dSPE clean up) and full scan acquisition using alternating scan events without/with fragmentation, at a resolving power of 50,000. Analyte detection was based on extraction of the exact mass (±5 ppm) of the major adduct ion at the database retention time ±30 s and the presence of a second diagnostic ion. Various options for the additional ion were investigated and compared (other adduct ions, M + 1 or M + 2 isotopes, fragments). The two-ion approach for selective detection of the pesticides in the full scan data was compared with two alternative approaches based on response thresholds. Using the two-ion approach, the number of false positives out of 11,676 pesticide/commodity combinations targeted was 36 (0.3 %). The percentage of false negatives, assessed for 2,730 pesticide/commodity combinations, was 13 %, 3 %, and 1 % at the 0.01-, 0.05-, and 0.20-mg/kg level, respectively (slightly higher with fully automated detection). Following the SANCO/12495/2011 protocol for validation of screening methods, the screening detection limit was determined for 130 pesticides and found to be 0.01, 0.05, and ≥0.20 mg/kg for 86, 30, and 14 pesticides, respectively. For the detected pesticides in the spiked samples, the ability for unambiguous identification according to EU criteria was evaluated. A proposal for adaption of the criteria was made.     

Emergence of the Second Law out of Reversible Dynamics

If one demystifies entropy the second law of thermodynamics comes out as an emergent property entirely based on the simple dynamic mechanical laws that govern the motion and energies of system parts on a micro-scale. The emergence of the second law is illustrated in this paper through the development of a new, very simple and highly efficient technique to compare time-averaged energies in isolated conservative linear large scale dynamical systems. Entropy is replaced by a notion that is much more transparent and more or less dual called ectropy. Ectropy has been introduced before but we further modify the notion of ectropy such that the unit in which it is expressed becomes the unit of energy. The second law of thermodynamics in terms of ectropy states that ectropy decreases with time on a large enough time-scale and has an absolute minimum equal to zero. Zero ectropy corresponds to energy equipartition. Basically we show that by enlarging the dimension of an isolated conservative linear dynamical system and the dimension of the system parts over which we consider time-averaged energy partition, the tendency towards equipartition increases while equipartition is achieved in the limit. This illustrates that the second law is an emergent property of these systems. Finally from our large scale linear dynamic model we clarify Loschmidt’s paradox concerning the irreversible behavior of ectropy obtained from the reversible dynamic laws that govern motion and energy at the micro-scale.     

Double-differential cross sections and kerma coefficients for light-charged particles produced by 96 MeV neutrons on carbon

Double-differential cross sections of inclusive light-ion (p, d, t, ³He and α) production in carbon induced by 96 MeV neutrons have been measured at eight laboratory angles from 20° to 160° in steps of 20°. Experimental techniques, as well as procedures for data taking and data reduction, are presented. Deduced energy-differential and production cross sections are herewith reported. Experimental cross sections are compared with theoretical reaction model calculations and experimental data in the literature. The measured production cross sections for protons, deuterons, tritons, ³He, and α particles support the trends suggested by data at lower energies. Deduced partial kerma coefficients for carbon are also shown.     

Determination of traces of thallium by fluorimetric titration

Summary Thallium(I) shows strong fluorescence in a solution which is 3.3 M in HCl and 0.8 M in KCl. The excitation wavelength is 253 nm and the wavelength selected for the fluorescence 438 nm. Due to the strong absorption at 253 nm by thallium(III) a reductometric rather than an oxidimetric titration will lead to a correct fluorimetric end-point indication. The precision and the selectivity of the titrimetric method are better than those of the corresponding methods based on the use of calibration curves. Traces of thallium down to 1 g can be determined with good precision. The method can be used for the determination of thallium in urine at the ppm level.

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Bestimmung von Spuren Thallium durch fluorimetrische Titration

Zusammenfassung Thallium(I) zeigt starke Fluorescenz in einer Lösung, die 3,3 M an HCl und 0,8 M an KCl ist. Diese Erscheinung wurde zur Endpunktsanzeige der Redoxtitration Tl(III)-Tl(I) verwendet (Excitationswellenlänge 253 nm, Fluorescenzwellenlänge 438 nm). Wegen der starken Lichtabsorption von Thallium(III) bei 253 nm kann nur ein reduktometrisch durchgeführtes Titrationsverfahren benutzt werden. Genauigkeit und Selektivität sind beim titrimetrischen Verfahren besser als beim Eichlinienverfahren. Spuren Thallium (bis einige Mikrogramm) können mit guter Genauigkeit bestimmt werden. Die Anwendung der Methode für die Bestimmung von Thallium in Urin im ppm-Bereich wird beschrieben.

     

The synthesis of ventiloquinone L, the monomer of cardinalin 3

Readily available ethyl-4-acetoxy-6,8-dimethoxynaphthalene-2-carboxylate was converted into 1-[3-allyl-4-(benzyloxy)-6,8-dimethoxy-2-naphthyl)-1-ethanol in seven steps. Subjection of this compound to Wacker oxidation conditions provided 5-benzyloxy-7,9-dimethoxy-1,3-dimethyl-1H-benzo[g]isochromene in good yield. Hydrogenation of the isochromene afforded (+/-)-cis-7,9-dimethoxy-1,3-dimethyl-1H-benzo[g]isochroman-5-ol as the major product, which was readily converted into ventiloquinone L.     

A new crosslinker for mass spectrometric analysis of the quaternary structure of protein complexes

Mass spectrometric structural analysis of crosslinked peptides is a powerful method to elucidate the spatial arrangement of polypeptides in protein complexes. Our aim is to develop bifunctional crosslinkers that, after crosslinking protein complexes followed by proteolytic digestion, give rise to crosslinked peptides that can be readily tracked down by mass spectrometry. To this end we synthesized the crosslinker N-benzyliminodiacetoyloxysuccinimid (BID), which yields stable benzyl cation marker ions upon low-energy collision-induced dissociation (CID) tandem mass spectrometry. Sensitive detection of the marker ion upon low-energy CID is demonstrated with different BID-crosslinked peptide preparations. With BID it becomes possible to retrieve crosslinked and crosslinker-adducted peptides, without the necessity of purifying crosslinked peptides prior to identification. The basic design of this crosslinker can be varied upon, in order to meet specific crosslinking needs.     

Optimizing the driving function for nonequilibrium free-energy calculations in the linear regime: a variational approach

We consider the issue of optimizing linear-regime nonequilibrium simulations to estimate free-energy differences. In particular, we focus on the problem of finding the best-possible driving function lambda(t) that, for a given thermodynamic path, simulation algorithm, and amount of computational effort, minimizes dissipation. From the fluctuation-dissipation theorem it follows that, in the linear-response regime, the dissipation is controlled by the magnitude and characteristic correlation time of the equilibrium fluctuations in the driving force. As a result, the problem of finding the optimal switching scheme involves the solution of a standard problem in variational calculus: the minimization of a functional with respect to the switching function. In practice, the minimization involves solving the associated Euler-Lagrange equation subject to a set of boundary conditions. As a demonstration we apply the approach to the simple, yet illustrative problem of computing the free-energy difference between two classical harmonic oscillators with very different characteristic frequencies.